mixture.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
Add the salt, baking powder, and baking soda, mixing until they are thoroughly combined.
Mix in the cinnamon and the nutmeg.
With the mixer still running, add the vanilla extract and the almond extract.
Add the peach jam and mix that in until everything is thoroughly combined.
Again, with the mixer running, add only one cup of the all-purpose flour. Beat it in thoroughly.
Mix in ½ cup of the buttermilk or whipping cream.
Add the second cup of all-purpose flour and mix well.
Mix in the remaining ½ cup of buttermilk or whipping cream. Mix that in thoroughly.
Add the remaining cup of all-purpose flour and beat on MEDIUM speed for 3 minutes, or until everything is thoroughly incorporated.
Take the bowl out of the mixer and set it on the counter.
If you haven’t already prepared your cake pan, do it now.
Use a rubber spatula to transfer the cake batter to the cake pan.
Smooth out the top of the batter with the rubber spatula so that it’s evenly distributed in the cake pan.
Bake the cake in a preheated 325°F. oven for 50 minutes, or until a cake tester, thin bamboo skewer, or long toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out without batter clinging to it.
If there is gooey cake batter on the tester you used, bake your Georgia Peach Cake for another 5 minutes and test it again. Continue to bake your cake in 5-minute intervals until it tests done.
Take the cake out of the oven and set it on a cold stovetop burner or a wire rack to wait for its Butter Sauce.
Butter Sauce Ingredients:
½ cup salted butter (1 stick, 4 ounces, ¼ pound)
½ cup white (granulated) sugar
¼ cup peach brandy or liqueur (I used Drillaud Peach Brandy—you can use peach juice if you don’t want to use alcohol in this cake)
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
To Make the Butter Sauce:
Take out a medium-size saucepan.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: Don’t use a saucepan that’s black or brown on the inside. You’ll be using it again later when you make the icing and you need to be able to see when the butter turns brown.
Place the ½ cup of salted butter in the bottom of the saucepan.
Add the ½ cup of white (granulated) sugar.
Stir in the ¼ cup of peach brandy, peach liqueur, or peach juice.
Do not add the vanilla extract yet. The mixture in the saucepan must cook first.
Heat the three ingredients in the saucepan on MEDIUM heat until the butter is melted and the sugar has dissolved, but DO NOT let the mixture come to a boil.
Hannah’s 4th Note: You can do this in a microwave-safe bowl on HIGH for 90 seconds. (I used a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup.)
Pull the saucepan over to a cold stovetop burner, shut off the burner you used, and add the Tablespoon of vanilla extract. (Be careful—it could sputter a bit.)
Use a food pick or a thin wooden skewer to poke holes all over the top of your cake. Don’t be too gentle. You want the holes to go all the way down to the bottom of the cake. (I used a thin wooden skewer and poked about 45 holes in mine.)
Pour the warm butter sauce over the top of the cake as evenly as you can. If you used a saucepan, don’t bother to wash it. You’ll be using it again when you make the frosting.
Let the cake sit out on the wire rack or cold stovetop burner for at least 10 minutes so that the Butter Sauce has time to soak into the holes you poked and get all the way down to the bottom of your cake.
Cover your Georgia Peach Cake with foil and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours. Overnight is fine, too.
When 2 hours have passed, leave the cake in the refrigerator and start making the Brown Butter Icing.
Brown Butter Icing Ingredients:
¼ cup salted butter (½ stick, 2 ounces, pound)
2 cups powdered (confectioners’) sugar (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons heavy cream (that’s whipping cream, but you could also use half-and-half, which is light cream)
½ cup sliced almonds (optional—to sprinkle over the top of the cake after you frost it)
Take your Georgia Peach Cake out of the refrigerator and set it on the kitchen counter.
To Make the Brown Butter Icing:
If you used a saucepan to make the Butter Sauce, you already have a medium-size saucepan that you can use. (It doesn’t need to be washed first.)
If you used